Islanders encouraged to apply for financial support to take arts, culture & history related trips
Members of the Youthful Minds charity en route to Edinburgh for their Rivington funded adventure
If you’d never heard of The Rivington Fund before you’d be forgiven. The story began twenty years ago when the very generous Jersey resident William Charles Richmond-Pickering left a portion of his estate to the Government of Jersey to be used to help people living in Jersey to travel abroad and further their appreciation of art, craft or history. The fund is particularly aimed at those who might find money a barrier to that sort of travel or experience.
Rivington bubbled away quietly for a number of years without many people knowing it was available to them, but following a relaunch earlier this year word is getting out, applications are being made and people are heading out on their cultural adventures, expanding their horizons both personally and professionally. So far this year The Rivington Fund has awarded over £40,000 to Jersey residents to travel to Barcelona, Bavaria, Edinburgh, New York, Leeds, Copenhagen, Texas, Liverpool and Wales.
A common misconception around funding of this kind is it is only available to those pursuing a career in a special area. However, this financial support is available to anyone living in Jersey wanting to experience the arts or history. Equally, a family who have always wanted to take in a show at the West End but could never afford such a cost could apply.
All that is asked is that people are honest about the support they need and provide an as accurate a budget as possible for review. They also wholeheartedly encourage charities and educators to consider their clients and pupils as potential recipients of this funding.
The Rivington Fund awards funding each quarter with the next deadline to apply being 15 August and 1 November 2022 thereafter. Check out the website rivington.je to find out whether you or someone you know might be suitable to apply. What’s there to lose?
AWARDEE PROFILES
Youthful Minds is a group of young people aged between 11-25 who are working on a campaign to tackle and reduce the stigma associated with mental health for young people in Jersey. They applied for funding to take a group of 13 people on an arts tour of Edinburgh. Choosing the Scottish capital for its cultural breadth and density, the group plan to explore a mixture of painting, sculpture, music, theatre, literature, architecture,
cinema and photography. Youthful Minds said, “Using art can support good mental health in many ways, particularly for young people. Some of the potential mental health benefits of creativity and art are increased self-confidence, self-esteem, finding a sense of purpose and meaning and a way of coping with difficult and distressing emotions. Really, this trip could help young people reach their potential and empower them to move towards their goals and aspirations for the future.”
Rivington recipient Vicky Hinalt
Vicky Hinault will be attending the Austin film festival's Screenwriters conference in Texas in the Autumn of this year. During the conference she’ll be attending a number of panels held by working screenwriters and filmmakers to learn and further develop her craft. This will be the first opportunity since the pandemic she’s had to progress her writing projects. Of being successful in her application she said, “I'm so unbelievably grateful to The Rivington Fund for this opportunity. Being able to learn, meet with and talk to professional screenwriters about my projects and how I can further develop them is a sure-fire way for me to move forward on a career path that I love.."
Rivington recipient Alexander Kelleher
Alexander Kelleher applied for funding to visit the International Mediaeval Congress in Leeds, where he presented a paper on his PhD research on the mediaeval history of the Channel Islands. He also attended presentations of other papers at the conference that will allow him to keep up to date with current historical research. This trip provides him
with the opportunity to make important links with other scholars in this field and increase the potential for further conference activity, as well as collaborative research projects.“Financial contributions such as the Rivington Fund have allowed me to devote my full energies to my PhD and I would fully recommend applying to the Rivington Fund to experience the benefits of travelling off-island in order to enrich one’s passion for the Arts and Humanities.”
Rivington recipient Jodie Bull
Jodie Bull is currently a student at London College of Fashion and is studying Fashion Design Womenswear. Jodie applied for funding to visit New York in September to view the Costume Institute and the temporary exhibition 'In America: A Lexicon in Fashion’. She’ll also visit the Brooklyn Museum Exhibition to see the Virgil Abloh: 'Figures of Speech' exhibition and the Monet to Morisot Exhibition. She also intends to visit a range of fashion companies to broaden her knowledge.
Those who might ordinarily find cost a barrier to such an experience are encouraged to visit www.rivington.je and submit an application for support.
The Rivington Fund’s objectives are threefold: to broaden experiences of art, crafts and history by travelling off-Island; to develop artistic skills through attending international events; and improve applicants’ quality of life through art experiences specific to individual needs.
Those who think they may qualify for this kind of financial support must be Jersey residents and have an interest in the arts, crafts or history. Applicants must be able to outline their trip in detail, demonstrate their passion and reasoning for the trip, propose a realistic budget and commit to sharing their journey with us so that the Rivington Fund can further promote opportunities to others. The Rivington Fund recognises that applicants may need assistance in putting together an application, and help is available for anyone who requires support in making an application.
